Another paywall, this time at the Herald Sun; get stuffed

The Australian newspaper went behind a partial paywall last October that has seen its traffic decline sharply. Now Melbourne’s Herald Sun is planning to do the same in March.

What? Profits aren’t enough?

News Corp posted a $US1.06 billion ($995 million) in quarterly profits this month. The result included costs of $US104 million in the first half of the year related to charges, lawyers and advisory fees stemming from the UK scandal, Reuters reported.

One billion a quarter translates to four billion a year.

And besides, I’m NOT going to pay for the Australian, and the Herald Sun, and the Daily Telegraph, and the Courier Mail, and the Adelaide Advertiser, and the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, and the Times and… all separately.

That is simply ridiculous, as is the concept of reverting back to only reading one newspaper.

So Murdoch can get stuffed. I appreciate his newspapers, but essentially, they are entertainment.

Perhaps if ALL News Corp. productions went behind a SINGLE reasonably priced paywall, I’d consider it, depending  on what else I could find out there.

Another thing I don’t get is how a full page ad in the newspaper-proper can cost around 50 grand, but ads in online editions generate diddly squat since they are on a pay-per-click basis. After all, it’s not as if we “click” the ads in the old newspapers or “click” the similarly expensive ads on the TV.

Hmm, I wonder what will happen to Andrew Bolt’s blog over there. Three millions hits a month behind a paywall?

Ho hum.

On that soccer riot in Egypt

Andrew Bolt puts it into perspective.

 

Pot kettle black

Andrew Bolt nabs Communications minister Stephen Conroy over his latest hypocrisy: the Left’s foul cries for tougher media laws because, shock horror, a probable-righty wants to buy up a stake in a certain media organisation.

In fact, of all the proprietors I’ve mentioned, it’s [The Monthly and The Quarterly Essay owner] Schwartz who strikes me as the most interventionist of them all. He’s been editor-in-chief and on the editorial board of his magazine, yet that direct editorial influence by a rich Leftist media boss does not bother the Left that’s now enraged that the free-marketer Rinehart should be trying to have less than 15 per cent of Fairfax – a vastly smaller share that what Stokes has of Seven.

Read the lot.

Back on deck

Because I’m back at work and it’s so much easier blogging when in “work mode”. Thanks for all those links guys (for the uninitiated, check recent comments [headlines] as of 1/Feb/12 in the Obama thread below).

Have been keeping abreast of recent events (read: Australia Day race riots) ever since I saw the ugly scenes splashed across CNN. As most reading this will know, the excellent Andrew Bolt has been all over this like cankles on a ranga.

For our American readers (FOAR), this is turning out to be something akin to Australia’s Watergate except the action has been sped up. Member(s) of the PM’s Office have been busted inciting a race riot (that threatened the very safety of the Opposition Leader and ironically the PM, too) based on false assertions of what the Opposition Leader said about a bunch of squalid tents parked on the lawn of Old Parliament House AKA the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a largely obsolete, fringe group relic lingering on from the far-poorer race relations of 40 years ago. The word got out that the Opposition Leader said it should be torn down. What he actually said was we should move on from the race relations of 40 years ago… slight difference.

(FOAR) This could well go all the way to the top i.e. the PM herself. The PM’s Office’s latest attempt to blame the Opposition Leader for every government failing – of which there are many – and portray the Opposition Leader as a racist (he isn’t, heck, he does volunteer work in remote Aboriginal communities [no cameras, either]) has failed spectactularly.

It blew up in their face better than a hard-boiled rotten egg re-heated in the microwave.

Anyway, I’m off to catch up on yesterday’s radio segment featuring Andrew Bolt and Steve Price chatting with the bloke who broke this whole story in the first place, the tenacious Ray Hadley.

If it wasn’t for him (and his first source) , the PM could well have gotten away with all this…

See you soon (as in later today with any luck), folks, and thanks again for all those links.

(Apologies to JM who has emailed many, too. I did read the headlines…)

Andrew Bolt to quit?

Word on the street is that he will ditch the blog.

An educated guess would say that he’s weighing it up.

He never struck me as a man after fame and glory. He’s made enough money, surely, to provide for his family in the manner he sees fit.

And now that family is taken care of…

Thank you. Good bye?

Some thinking will need to be done?

We all know that court case gutted him. It gutted any sane man.

My guess is that AB is wondering whether it’ll all be lost if he hangs up his boots.

It won’t. He started something, much like Tim Blair.

Australia is at an interesting juncture.

People smugglers are being cast as fishermen… by the presiding judge… before the case has even begun.

I wouldn’t blame Andrew for concluding that enough’s enough.

The tide of Leftism may continue washing up garbage on our shores, yet the mountain of humanity will continue to rise.

Regardless, he’s certainly thinking about it.

I guess spending Christmas in the land of Christ might do that to a man.

Andrew Bolt: the man behind the machine

Certainly not the hatchett job Anne Summers did, John van Tiggelen takes a look “behind the scenes” of Australia’s favourite columnist and blogger.

Seven days before Justice Mordecai Bromberg finds him guilty of racial vilification in the Federal Court, I turn up at Andrew Bolt’s house, for dinner. Bolt is cooking. He cooks like I cook, the Dutch way. Lots of flavour, lots of everything, and anything but Dutch. On the kitchen bench are two salads, one Greek and one FNQ (prawn, mango and avocado). There is a Sicilian pasta for entrée, beef bourguignon for main. Dessert is on me: I’ve asked my mother to bake some gevulde speculaaskoek, a traditional cinnamon-spiced slice with a marzipan-like filling. Unlike almost everything else in Dutch cuisine, it is to die for, not from, although my mother appeared to have other ideas.

“I’ll put poison in it,” she said, when told for whom it was intended.

Read on.

Bolta manages a smile

Good on him. Not that he isn’t still fully aware of the seriousness of the current situation in Oz, but thanks to the sheer, utter absurdity and ridiculousness of the Australian Left, it looks like we’re getting our old Bolta back.

It’ll be interesting to hear his overall tone on MTR today.

For me, that point [where you have to laugh] came on Monday, five days after being found to have breached the Racial Vilification Act for writing about fair-skinned Aborigines, by which time I’d read that I was actually a “Lying Dutchman” (Sydney Morning Herald) from the “outback” (The Monthly) of a country I’d never written about “with passion” (The Age), since I was confused about my identity and clung to “an archaic notion of European culture” (The Age).

I’d read that it was “the neo-Calvinist faith instilled by (my) Dutch father” (Crikey) which made me obsessed with the purity of the “Master Race” (The Age) and convinced that Aborigines were an “inferior race” which got “too much support” (The Age).

By Monday I’d even acquired a “former fiancee” (The Monthly) who next issue will help explain how I changed from the “‘introverted, restless, romantic’, with strong ethics” she’d reportedly known into this thing with dreadful views I never knew I had.

Naturally, I blamed my wife for this transformation – from a Byronic figure into a “serpent” (The Age) and “egomaniacal lackwit” with a “soft, white, privileged a— “ (Brisbane Times) who “prefers his darkies dark” (SMH) – but oddly enough she wasn’t in a laughing mood.

Can’t blame Sally for not seeing the funny side of this most creative writing.

Speaking of which, I know mine did, and as far as I’m aware, most journalism courses do offer a creative writing class.

In a media-pack attack like this, driven so much by ideology, the target of all this superheated venting just vanishes. I’ve been replaced by a make-believe monster so cartoonish that no one of sense could possibly believe it.

Which means, of course, that many on the Left will.

And how convenient it is for our creative writers that it’s well-known Bolt isn’t the litigious type? The courts would be tied up for years.

The death of free speech in Australia

True. Andrew Bolt didn’t incite any “racial vilification or racial hatred”, and the nine “aboriginal” plaintiffs agree. Their ridiculous court case, however, and in particular their “win” is really a marker of when yet another bit of what made Australia great has been eroded away essentially, by thought police.

Freedom of speech means people get to say what you or I might not like. It’s an integeral part of a healthy democracy. A healthy democracy cannot exist without rigorous debate.

HERALD Sun columnist Andrew Bolt has lost an action brought in the Federal Court in which the columnist was accused of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act.
Bolt was found to have contravened Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

Nine aboriginal applicants brought a class-action against Bolt and the Herald and Weekly Times claiming Bolt wrote they sought professional advantage from the colour of their skin.

There were cheers and applause in the court when Justice Mordecai Bromberg read out his verdict.

He found that “fair-skinned Aboriginal people (or some of them) were reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to have been offended, insulted, humiliated or intimidated by the imputations conveyed in the newspaper articles published in the Herald Sun.

In a brief statement outside the Melbourne court after the judgment, Bolt said “This is a terrible day for freedom of speech in this country.”

“It is particularly a restriction on the freedom of all Australians to discuss multiculturalism and how people identify themselves,” he said.

“I argued then and I argue now that we should not insist on differences between us but focus instead on what unites us as human beings.”

Well said. And this court case has brought nothing but division on our nation.

Enjoy your “win”, losers. You’ve just successfully hammered in an other nail to the coffin of freedom and democracy.

UPDATE

THE Racial Discrimination Act should be reviewed following today’s court decision against Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt, civil libertarians say.

Federal Court Justice Mordy Bromberg found that fair-skinned Aboriginal people were reasonably likely to have been “offended, insulted, humiliated or intimidated by the imputations conveyed” in two articles written by Mr Bolt.

Justice Bromberg found the articles, published by the Herald Sun, contravened the Racial Discrimination Act.

But Liberty Victoria president Spencer Zifcak said that the Racial Discrimination Act was too broad. “In a public discourse people should be able to express themselves in a political and public debate that may from time to time insult or offend someone,” he said.

Mr Zifcak said the Racial Discrimination Act could be unconstitutional. “The constitutional question is yet to be resolved,” he said.

A Korean story

Andrew Bolt was kind enough today to publish a photo of the view out the window at the Korean elementary school I teach at.

Reader JB asked for some stories.

click to enlarge

My reply is below (1. to share it here and 2. in case it goes walkies over there)

Happy to oblige. The kids are at a camp today so there’s lots of free time.

First came over in 2002 after uni. Basically, I think it was Mum kicking me out of home, plus I’d piss-farted around at uni too much and journo jobs are hard to get. Thought “why not?” and jumped in the deep end.

It was after about nine months of teaching ESL at an after school academy that I realised I really truly love this job.

It was an amazing year that first year as the soccer world cup was being played out here and South Korea did amazingly well – semi finals. After every match, you’d see cars and scooters going up and down the streets, honking horns and waving flags. Crowds of thousands would gather in the streets to watch the matches on massive screens. That year, I saw the true spirit of this little country; a country of people who’ve copped from all sides for centuries yet despite all that, have emerged strong, capable and rightly proud.

Came back permanently a few years later. Too many stories to fit into one comment, so I’ll tell just one.

It was about two and a half years ago, and a dear friend of mine back home been killed in a car accident.. It was a horrible time. Soon after was my 30th birthday. To say the least, I was in no mood to celebrate, however some Western and Korean friends organised a birthday party at the “German” brauhaus we used to frequent. We loved that place, the mix of Koreans and Westerners, the Filipino band who I’m still good friends with to this day.

Anyway, about three weeks prior to the party, an American mate had started dating this Korean girl. Two friends – a Korean and another American – decided to invite that Korean girl’s best friend – a Korean – to the party.

It was arguably the only night out since I was a teenager where I wasn’t looking to pick up.

That girl was beautiful, classy, smart, funny, elegant. She spoke good English but I was so down and nervous, I could only write notes to her on a napkin.

Two and half years later, and that woman is my wife.

PS. Mags. Any Korean stories for us?

In support of Freedom of Speech

Here’s a video put up by the Institute of Public Affairs in support of our right to say what others may not like. It was that function hosted for Andrew Bolt, currently tied up in the courts in a matter relating to this issue.

Some points of order under the fold about the fact Australia does NOT explicitly have Freedom of Speech; we have (implied) Freedom of Expression.

Good on Andrew Bolt for fighting The Good Fight and a big thanks to the IPA, all those who spoke, all those who attended, and everyone who supports the stuff mentioned in that video.

UPDATE – related

It appears that ratbag GetUp! mob may be going to try and shut Lord Monckton down at his speech to the National Press Club on Sunday.

And again, in case you missed it (or like me, never got back to it after cooking dinner a few nights ago), here’s Lord Monckton’s speech that was shut down in a number of cities.

UPDATE II

Not in Australia, but yet another example of Free Speech being eroded.

H/T

UPDATE III

Damn it, Andrew. What’s going on?

Bolt’s Crapon Tax Report

Bloody brilliant report today. Carbon tax PWND.

And the encore…

I know we’re all frustrated re the comments section, but to be fair, the bloke is doing the work.

Self plug: I asked him to put up the YouTube version of his clips on his blog, and he did.

It’s frustrating those comments not being put up and/or disappearing, but surely we all realise the bloke is stretched pretty thin these days and yet is delivering ad infinitum.

The best Bolt Report… so far

An old Labor stalwart cuts to the chase on what’s gone bad with the party… and how to fix it.

Multiculturalism is discussed… without the “hyperbowl” nor the ideology.

Lord Monckton apologises (again) on air… then clinically rips into the bad science mixed with that reverence to authoritah that is the man-made global warming scam.

And… what a brilliant ending!

Part 2

Part 3

Go on the show, Ms Prime Minister!

Geert Wilders acquitted: Bolt next?

Let’s hope the Australian courts have as much sense. Scrap article 18C of the Racial Vilification Act.

Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-right politician, has been acquitted of charges of hate speech and discrimination for statements he made attacking Islam.

Judge Marcel van Oosten told Mr Wilders, 47, who has been on trial in the Amsterdam regional court since last October, ruled that his statements were “acceptable within the context of the public debate”.

That free speech can be or attempted to be shut down in Australia, the Netherlands or Canada simply because someone else is offended is a stab in the back of a Free society.

And just how much did Wilders have to spend to defend his inalienable right? How much is Bolt having to spend for essentially defending all Australians’ right to free speech from those disposed to tyranny?

Mark Steyn on Free Speech – everyone’s

Finally, video of Mark Steyn addressing the IPA event held recently to promote our right to free speech – a right they are attempting to dastardly take away from the likes of Andrew Bolt (kill the king, conquer the empire). They tried to take Steyn’s right to free speech away in Canada a while back. He took the bastards on.

And won.

Bolt on Steyn:

But of all that was said on the night and sent, Mark Steyn’s contribution was the one that brought down the house. I confess to being in awe of it – not just because I appreciate the compliment of having it come from probably the most brilliant columnist in the English-speaking world, but because it’s such a tremendous piece of writing. 

H/T s_dog

 

 

In support of Free Speech

A healthy, functioning democracy has to have it. The Racial Vilification Act’s section 18C is a shocker. That one can be muzzled simply because the other feels offended is as ridiculous as it is dangerous. Steve Kates at Catallaxy notes “[i]f Bolt loses this case, every written record of what he had written on whatever the topic was that got him into so much trouble will disappear down the memory hole, irretrievable in any form from any source.”

The memory hole, as described in 1984, where any undesired information disappears, indeed.

So thanks to the IPA for putting on last night’s sold out event. Hang in there, Andrew Bolt.

Speaking of not being able to have one’s say, Senator Steve Feilding is an a$$hole for squashing that plebiscite that would have asked us if we want a carbon tax.